Running a roastery across more than one site
A second site, whether a cafe, a shop or a second roasting unit, doubles the places where stock, quality and records can drift apart. How to keep one business across several addresses.
6 min read Updated October 9, 2026
Roasteries grow into several sites in two common ways: opening cafes or shops supplied by the roastery, or adding a second production site. Each brings the same challenge: keeping stock, quality and records as one business rather than several that happen to share a name.
Cafes or shops supplied by the roastery
- Treat each site as a wholesale customer with its own standing orders, so roasting and stock stay planned
- Record transfers of roasted coffee and green between sites; your stock and accounts depend on it
- Each premises needs its own food business registration with its local authority
- Cafes serving drinks are catering: standard-rated VAT on drinks, allergen information on site
A second production site
Keeping two sites as one
- Profiles and recipes shared and versioned, with machine-specific adjustments recorded
- The same QC routine and reference batches at both sites
- One green inventory with stock by location, and transfers recorded
- Traceability across sites: lot references unique across the business
- Maintenance schedules per machine
- Clear ownership: who is responsible for quality at each site
One system of record
The most common multi-site problem is two copies of the truth: separate spreadsheets for stock, separate order books, separate roast logs. Put locations inside one system, so a manager can see stock, plans and quality across all sites at once.
Where Roastnet helps
Questions roasters ask
- Does each site need its own food business registration?
- Yes. Register each premises with the local authority where it is located.
- How do I keep coffee consistent across two roasting sites?
- Share documented profiles, use the same QC routine and references, and cup production from both sites against each other regularly.
Official sources
Rules change. These sources were checked on October 9, 2026; always confirm the current position with the body that publishes them before you act.
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Run the roastery from one place
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